Bregman receives hero's send-off in Astros' last regular-season home game

HOUSTON -- When the Astros took the field on defense to start the fourth inning, veteran Alex Bregman stood alone at third base for a few seconds. The Minute Maid Park speakers blared one of his walk-up songs while Bregman was shown on the video board, but it wasn’t until manager Joe Espada came out with the lineup card that the crowd began to understand the significance of the moment.

Espada pulled Bregman from the game, earning him an opportunity -- perhaps for the last time in the regular season -- to get an ovation from the fans who have seen him evolve from a can’t-miss rookie in 2016 to a cornerstone player on two World Series championship teams. Simply put, he’s the team’s greatest third baseman and is easily a top 10 player in franchise history.

Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Mariners, which came a day after the Astros beat Seattle to clinch the American League West title and lock up the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs, wasn’t Bregman’s final home game. The Astros will play host to the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series, beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.

Still, the potential departure of Bregman, who’s a free agent at the end of the season, was enough for Espada to make sure he gets one final Houston ovation in the regular season. Bregman, Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and injured pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., are the only remaining players who played on both of Houston’s World Series championship teams in 2017 and ‘22.

On the all-time Astros hitting charts, Bregman ranks sixth in homers (191), seventh in doubles (263), eighth in runs (694) and extra-base hits (472), ninth in RBIs (662) and total bases (2001) and 11th in hits (1,127). His 19 career postseason homers are tied for the sixth-most in postseason history.